


Excerpt from "The Illusion of Agency": That Night's Shelter

by MarcyAugust



Series: Excerpts from The Illusion of Agency [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 20:28:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarcyAugust/pseuds/MarcyAugust
Summary: An excerpt from a larger story I am writing, about the events that immediately follow the ending of Life is Strange.This excerpt incorporates the previous one I had written, expanding the events that surrounded it.





	Excerpt from "The Illusion of Agency": That Night's Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is the second excerpt of mine from a much longer story detailing the events that happen after the final chapter of Life is Strange! This is about 1/2 of what I have written out so far, though the story is still being fleshed out and drafted.
> 
> I would love any critiques or notes anyone would like to give me, as I am new to this and would love advice on how to grow! Thank you so much for reading!

The garage had survived, somewhat intact. At the very least, it would work for tonight. Chloe helped guide Max into the room, lying her down against David’s lockers. 

“I’m going to go see if there’s anything better for you to sit on Max.” Max watched her exit the room, holding her head in her hand. She listened to Chloe rummage in the remains of the house, hearing her swears lightly emanate out of where the dining room once was, wondering if the creaking of the stairs that followed this as Chloe climbed them  was a sign that venturing up there wasn’t a good idea. 

“Found you,” Chloe exclaimed, rushing back down the stairs, bringing with her a small bottle of painkillers. “Here Max, take two of these, this should help your head.” Max took the bottle, grabbed two of the pills, and swallowed, though the lack of water caused some difficulty. A few gulps later, Max turned and smiled at Chloe. 

“Thanks Chloe, I hope this does help.” 

“Of course Max. Now we just need to figure out what to eat, and where to sleep. Looks like this will have to do for tonight.” 

_ It  _ **_was_ ** _ getting dark out _ , Max thought, and the house did seem to be in decent condition compared to the surrounding houses. Max stood up, cautiously, hands on her knees to help prop herself, and Chloe reached her arm under Max’s shoulder to help bolster her. 

“Are you sure you can stand yet, Super Max,” Chloe asked playfully. 

“Ha-ha, I’ll be fine,” Max responded mockingly, though she knew Chloe was being considerate, and tried to have her expression convey that understanding after her remark. 

“Let’s see if any of the beds are still usable,” Chloe suggested. “It looked like my mom’s room was caved in, but my door was still shut, so hopefully we could use that.” Max noticed Chloe’s voice seemed to grow solemn speaking about her mom, so she reached out and gripped Chloe’s arm, giving a reassuring smile to her. Chloe cast a weak smile, and they both headed up the stairs to her room. 

Chloe opened the door to her room, and while they could still tell it was her room, it wasn’t in great condition. The window had blown out, part of the ceiling and roof had been ripped off, and the wall behind the bed had caved in on top of the bed, but the bed was at least still there. As they stepped into the room, the floor moaned, as if it couldn’t take any more weight on it for much longer. They looked at each other with the same cautious glance, and slowly edged their way towards the bed. The floor seemed to be bending from the bed’s weight. 

“Let’s try to pull it away from the wall,” Max said, walking up to the closest corner of the bed, as the floor continued to groan. Chloe grabbed the opposite corner, and they pulled on the mattress. The floor under the mattress started to give out, and they jumped away just in time to watch the mattress plummet through the newly formed hole in the floor into the garage. 

They both stood and stared at the wreckage. Chloe was the first to respond, stating “well… at least we won’t have to worry about moving it ourselves now.” Max was too shocked to respond. “Max?” Chloe shook her arm, snapping Max out of it. 

“I’m… I’m okay Chloe, just, didn’t expect that.” Chloe shook her head, and left the room, holding Max’s arm as she guided her behind herself. 

They walked to the doorway of the garage and saw that the mattress had slumped over the lockers, knocking one of them over in the process. They pulled the mattress off, dragged it into the other room of the garage, and laid it down next the washing machine. 

Max collapsed down onto the mattress, Chloe following shortly after. They both paused there for a second, catching their breath. 

Chloe started to laugh, beginning with a slight chuckle, and slowly turning into a fit of laughter. Max followed suit shortly after. 

They turned to look at each other as the laughter began dying down. The irony of their situation, finding safety in the room Chloe’s step dad kept his guns and his surveillance equipment, the break from the anxiety and nerves that came with them finally relaxing, how tragic the town looked, it had washed over them, and they finally could rest. 

Max’s hand found Chloe’s, and she squeezed it. “This is something at least. And it’s certainly better than last night,” Max told Chloe. Chloe nodded, and dropped her eyes.

“What’s wrong Chloe?” 

“Just… everything’s gone to shit Max. I don’t know what we’re going to do after this…” 

“Right now, we don’t need to worry about later. We’ve had a long day, it’s time for a break.”

Chloe looked back at Max, a brief smile forming on her face.  

“How’s your head feeling Max?”

The rush from the mattress had distracted Max, and she realized that it had already began to disappear.

“It seems like a distraction was all I needed, and watching your bed fall through the floor definitely accomplished that.”

“That’s good at least…” Chloe’s words trailed off, again averting her gaze.

“What is it Chloe?” 

Max could tell something was on Chloe’s mind, as she watched her think. 

“Chloe, things are going to be al-” her words were cut off, as Chloe suddenly reached out and kissed Max.    
Max’s heart felt like it skipped a beat. She squeezed Chloe’s hand again, and Chloe pulled herself back.

“Thank you, Max. For saving me. You… you shouldn’t have, but… thank you.” 

Max was blushing, and she had to find her words to respond. 

“Chloe, I… I couldn’t. I couldn’t lose you again, not after all I’d done to prevent losing you… This week has made me think about a lot. And… it made me realize how I don’t want to keep living without you. You’re my best friend Chloe,” she said as tears began to stream down her face. “I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

 

~

 

Max broke from her slumber, having been woken by Chloe’s distressed aura. She could hardly see Chloe laying on her side, facing away from her, but she could feel the slight tremble echoing out across the bed they now shared. Chloe’s emotions were intense, as if the darkness that currently encapsulated the garage emmanated out of her body, and Max couldn’t stop herself from experiencing the residual grief that was carried along with Chloe’s subtle yet frail breath. She felt her chest growing heavy, and yielded herself to the dejection that overcame her. 

 

Chloe was silently sobbing. She made no sound as her body steadily shivered, her tears silently pouring down her cheek, and her hands gripping the dusty sheets. She didn’t want to feel emotions like this. She’d spent so many years fighting back against the grief of losing her father, the memory of her learning he wouldn’t be coming home with her mother and “bags of delicious grub” like a knife that still hadn’t been removed from the wound it had made. She never wanted to pull it out and face its reality, she just wanted to pretend it never existed. She hated her father for abandoning her, hated Max for leaving town, hated her mother for moving on, hated Rachel for dying, hated everyone who didn’t want to wallow in her misery. As long as the knife was kept in, she would never know how deeply it had cut, and it seemed as if the twister had knocked it loose. Stepping out of her truck to greet the reality of the shell of her childhood home seemed to dislodge it further, and now, lying aside Max, wondering if her mom was still okay… it felt as if it finally fell out, and along with it, all the emotions she had so meticulously bottled up. She had felt that her life had been dipped in shit ever since that day, but… maybe it wasn’t that, maybe that’s just what she needed to feel in order to cope with the vacuum suddenly created that day, choking out any room to process the events that had occurred. 

So here she was, open wound displayed for all to see, feeling more vulnerable than she had ever felt before, secluded away in her hovel, her closest friend at her side. 

She felt a sudden warmth touch her arm, and jumped at its sting, turning to see Max staring at her, the faint light drifting into the room reflecting off of the tears that had started

welling in her eyes. They peered into each other, the deafening silence of their shared realization about their reality scaring away any other sound, this trepidatious feeling that, if they were to break this gaze, maybe something else would happen that would break the security of this moment. Max’s hand slowly reached back to Chloe’s arm, and she pulled herself in close, embracing Chloe. The cacophony was pierced by a whimper, neither of them sure of who had uttered it, though this didn’t matter, as their composure slowly devolved into a sea of misery, each of them drowning in their own sorrow, clinging to each other for safety. 

 

~

 

Their sobs had began to subside, though the tears felt as if they were drawing from bottomless wells. Chloe shivered, her hand reaching around Max’s neck, as she pulled herself into Max’s chest. Max wrapped her arms around Chloe’s back, responding to Chloe’s advance with compassionate tenderness. 

“Max… what… what are we going to do here? Arcadia Bay is gone, the roads are blocked off, my mo-,” her sentence broke off, a sudden gasp breaking her flow, her eyes abruptly filled with pain, as if she had just witnessed the twister all over again. Max didn’t know what to say as she watched Chloe falling apart in her arms. She pulled Chloe in tightly, caressing her head and back as she held her, burying her nose into Chloe’s hair, and she began to feel her own tears dripping down her nose. 

“Chloe, whatever happens, we’re going to make it through. I know we will.”    
Chloe struggled to speak. “It’s just been t-too much; finding Rach-- Rachel, wa-watching the town be dest-estroyed, it isn’t f-fair that any of this happened.”

Max didn’t have a response to this, so she tightened her grip on Chloe and softly scratched her back while gently rocking her in her lap. 

“Max… do you think... my mom made it,” Chloe whispered between her cries.

_ She couldn’t have, _ thought Max,  _ I saw the diner explode before I was able to prevent the fire spreading, and it shouldn’t be any different in this timeline… I hope it is though… _

She wondered if she should divulge this information to Chloe, knowing that it wouldn’t help her current feelings, but lying would just make her learning the truth all the harder…

“I don’t know Chloe, but I really, really hope so.” 

“Didn’t you see her when you were trying to escape from that room?”

_ Shit, I did talk about that while we waited out the tornado, _ Max remembered. 

“I, I did, but, different things happened in that timeline. It might not be the same in this one…”

This seemed to assuage some of Chloe’s fears, but Max wondered if this was really for the best.

“Do you want to go look for Joyce tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, we should. I hope it isn’t too late,” Chloe replied, a spark of hope backing her words. Max hoped that this hope wasn’t unfounded. She didn’t want to have even more tragedy plague them.

“Then we should keep trying to rest Chloe. It’s going to be a long day.”

Chloe nodded, and they both reclined back onto the mattress, the comfort of their embrace allowing them to eventually drift back to sleep.

 


End file.
